1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a drive device for an optical disc apparatus for recording on or playing a CD, DVD, BD (Blu-ray Disc), or other optical disc.
2. Description of Related Art
Apparatuses designed so that a disc tray on which an optical disc is placed is moved in the apparatus body, the optical disc is clamped between a disc holder (clamper) and a turntable provided in the apparatus body, and the optical disc is recorded on or played are conventionally known as optical disc apparatuses. Various improvements to the mechanisms of such tray-type optical disc apparatuses have also been proposed in recent years.
For example, there is disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2008-97762 a disc apparatus designed so that a lever shifter is moved downward based on an unloading signal to tilt the orientation of a traverse chassis, whereby a disc is passed from a turntable onto a tray, and the tray is advanced forward; wherein a plurality of upwardly protruding trapezoidal mounting bases are formed by working sheet metal into the bottom chassis of a housing, a loader chassis is fixed on the mounting bases, a bar-shaped elastic buffering element extends integrally with the lever shifter so as to face any one of the mounting bases, and the elastic buffering element is made to contact the upper surface or the slanted lateral surface of the mounting bases and undergo elastic deformation when the lever shifter is moved downward to the lowest position.
There is also disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2006-302437 an optical disc apparatus comprising: a tray unit for mounting a circular optical disc and moving forward and backward; an integrally formed unit mechanical chassis that includes an optical pickup and a disc motor for rotatably driving the optical disc; a printed circuit board that includes a signal processing circuit and a control circuit for controlling the disc motor, the optical pickup, and all the other devices; and a mechanical part for vertically moving the unit mechanical chassis in the housing in accordance with the forward and backward movement of the tray unit; wherein a notch is formed in the distal part of the circuit board, and an electrical connection between the unit mechanical chassis and the printed circuit board is formed using a flexible cable via the notch in order to avoid interference with the printed circuit board from the vertical movement of the unit mechanical chassis.
In addition, there is disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2004-220658 an optical disc apparatus in which a chucking plate is attached to a hole formed in a PCB, the PCB is disposed above the disc, a pickup connector is disposed behind a disc tray, a pickup cable is connected to a pickup through the exterior of the disc tray, the heat-generating electrical components on the PCB are installed in an area facing the disc, and the electrical components on the PCB that have a greater height than the distance between the disc and the PCB are installed in an area not facing the disc.
The tray-type optical disc apparatus is a mechanism in which the traverse assembly is vertically moved by the vertical movement of a lever arm that supports the lower part of the front end of the traverse assembly. A spindle motor for rotating an optical disc is provided on a spindle motor PCB (printed board) in the section nearer the front of the upper surface of the traverse assembly. A spindle motor FFC (flexible flat cable) is connected to the spindle motor PCB, and the spindle motor FFC is extended from the front of the traverse assembly around the underside of the traverse assembly, passed between a traverse chassis and the lever arm, and connected to the PCB of the apparatus body.
Here, the spindle motor FFC cannot be assembled without a certain allowance in length, and the assembled spindle motor FFC is therefore somewhat loose. The loose section is pressed down by the lever arm, and the other sections of the spindle motor FFC are lifted, producing a state in which a load is applied.
As a result, the spindle motor PCB is lifted by the stress from the spindle motor FFC, and the components on the spindle motor PCB sometimes come into contact with the spindle motor. The rotational load of the spindle motor increases in this state, creating concern that defects will arise in recording on or playing an optical disc. Such problems will arise as long as there is an FFC passing between the lever arm and the traverse chassis even without a spindle motor, and these problems cannot be solved by the three cited technologies.